Northern Kentucky attorney receives Joseph W. Kelly Award

Kentucky Board of Education Chair Mary Gwen Wheeler, accompanied by Commissioner Stephen Pruitt (far left), presents the Joseph W. Kelly Award to northern Kentucky attorney C. Ed Massey (holding plaque), a long time Kenton Co. Board of Education member. The award, named for former KBE chair and businessman Joe Kelly (far right), is given to businesspeople who offer outstanding leadership and service toward promoting school improvement and equitable educational opportunities for all Kentucky children.Photo by Bobby Ellis, Oct. 4, 2017

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – At its meeting Oct. 4, the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) presented the 17th annual Joseph W. Kelly Award to C. Ed Massey, a northern Kentucky attorney and a longtime member of the Boone County Board of Education.

Massey is a partner in the law firm of Blankenship, Massey and Associates, Attorneys at Law, which has offices in Erlanger and Dry Ridge.

The Kelly award, named for former KBE chair and businessman Joe Kelly, is given to businesspeople who offer outstanding leadership and service toward promoting school improvement and equitable educational opportunities for all Kentucky children.

“Ed has been an advocate for public education in Kentucky in the courtroom, the boardroom and even the classroom,” Kentucky Board of Education Chairwoman Mary Gwen Wheeler said. “We’re grateful for his support and confident that he will continue to work for Kentucky’s students for years to come.”

In a letter nominating Massey, Boone County Superintendent Randy Poe noted that Massey is a major proponent of the values of public education. Massey’s parents are retired educators and his children are recent graduates of Boone County schools.

“He says, ‘I will always stand up for the students, even if it costs me my position on the school board,’” Poe wrote.

Massey has been an attorney for 24 years and has served on the Boone County Board of Education for 21 years. Poe wrote that one of Massey’s first serious legal cases directed his path, as he represented someone in education whom he believed to be innocent and was successful in getting the case dismissed.

“This case heavily involved politics and education and required knowledge of the law – Ed’s three loves,” Poe wrote. “From that day forward he believed he could make a difference and help clean up what he saw to be the problems in his community involving politics and education, so he ran for a seat on the Boone County school board.”

Massey has been a member, officer and president of the Kentucky School Boards Association; a member, director and officer of the National School Boards Association and a member of the board of directors of the National PTA. He also has served on the Local School Board Members Advisory Council to the Commissioner of Education and the American Public Education Foundation.

He worked as a substitute teacher in northern Kentucky public schools while attending law school, and he is considering going back to school to obtain a doctorate in education, according to Poe’s nomination letter, because he wants to be involved in educational governance.

The Kelly Award was created in honor of Joseph W. Kelly, a respected businessman and chair of the Kentucky Board of Education from 1991 to 1998. Kelly’s efforts and expertise were crucial to the implementation and nurturing of Kentucky’s school improvement efforts.

Previous Winners of the Joseph W. Kelly Award

2016 Brent Cooper, president of C-Forward Information Technologies in Covington, and Audwin Helton, president and CEO of Spatial Data Integrations Inc. in Louisville

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) publishes Kentucky Teacher to communicate directly with the state’s 40,000 public school teachers. The stories of this award-winning publication include news, perspectives, and practical, workable ideas for guiding students to higher levels of achievement.